CHELSEA -- Terry McCarthy's daughter, now 22, was fighting for her life following an accident two years ago when his boss, Arthur T. Demoulas, asked him if the hospital she was in could treat her injury.

Demoulas' use of the word "we" spoke to all the reasons McCarthy has stayed with the company for the past 34 years to build his career. Everyone who works for Market Basket is part of a family, McCarthy said.

That's why the ousting of Demoulas as president and CEO, as well as two other executives, by the board of directors Monday devastated employees and reduced managers at Nashua's Daniel Webster Highway store to tears, said Christine Doubleday, the store's bakery manager.

"I just feel like a family being broken up," said Doubleday, a 20-year employee whose parents also worked for the company for decades.

Doubleday stood among hundreds of Market Basket workers protesting the firing of the top managers in the parking lot of the Chelsea store Tuesday. Some of the company's senior managers have already resigned to show solidarity with the embattled Demoulas and the other fired executives.

Some workers, like Samantha Normandin, who has worked at Market Basket's store on Water Street in Fitchburg for seven years, are concerned about what the future holds. She wants to do what she can to support the movement to bring back Demoulas, Normandin said.

Many workers at the rally said they will fight to bring back the ousted leaders.

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"I'm not done. This is not the end!" Tom Trainor, who works at DeMoulas headquarters in Tewksbury, told the crowd from atop a platform, inciting applause.

"We are not ready to give up," agreed Mark Owens, manager of the chain's store in Stratham, N.H.

One day after the DeMoulas Super Markets board announced it replaced had Demoulas with Felicia Thornton and James Gooch, experienced retail and grocery executives, hundreds of workers swarmed in front of the Chelsea store to protest.

The board's decision came one year after Demoulas lost majority support on the board to his estranged cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas.

The board also fired Bill Marsden, Market Basket's operations director, and Joseph Rockwell, vice president of grocery sales and merchandising.

Holding placards bearing messages that read, "We got your back, Mr. D" and "Arthur T. Demoulas is our President," the workers swore loyalty to Arthur T. Demoulas, who they say has put employees first while increasing the number of stores by 15, to 71, and increasing annual sales to more than $4 billion.

Addressing the crowd from the top of the platform, Dave McLean, who worked his way up from being a Billerica store bagger to the company's operations manager over the past 38 years, said he resigned Monday. He called the firings "pure injustice."

Of Arthur T. Demoulas, Marsden and Rockwell, McLean said, "They care more about customers and associates than they care about shareholders' wealth."

He said DeMoulas Super Markets was built on respect.

"It's an icon of what is good" in America, McLean said of the business under Arthur T. Demoulas' leadership.

Many workers called Demoulas the best CEO to work for.

"Arthur T. Demoulas fights for every one of us," said John Sevastis, a Market Basket worker who grew up in Lowell and works at one of the Market Basket stores in Fitchburg.

While addressing the crowd, Sevastis said he does not trust that the new management will understand or care about the company's culture.

McLean said he expressed his concerns about the management feud in a recent letter to the board of directors, but did not receive a reply.

"Those men are not going to walk alone," McLean said after the rally of the reason for his resignation.

The company board did not reply to a request for comment made early Tuesday night.

Several senior managers have resigned in the wake of Monday's firings, according to the company. While store workers keep the business running as usual, "the morale is pretty bad," Trainor said.

"People are very upset and worried," Owens said. "They are consumed with everything that is going on."

Doubleday, a mother of five from Merrimack, N.H., who is the breadwinner for her family, said seeing the managers whom she has known all her life leave is not only disheartening but also left her scared about her own future.

Since the management feud surfaced some time ago, groups of workers have rallied around Arthur T. Demoulas by creating a Facebook page and picketing. A group of workers, consumers and vendors has also petitioned to keep Demoulas in power through change.org.

Workers gathering for the rally Tuesday said they did not know yet what their next step will be -- except for one thing: They said they will continue fighting to bring back the fired leaders.

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